News Category: Estate Planning
What You Need to Know About Washington’s New Estate Tax Break for Family Homes
Overview of The Spousal Residence Exclusion Washington state recently enacted some changes that may impact married couples and registered domestic partners. Under the new Spousal Personal Residence Exclusion, when a spouse/partner passes away on or after January 1, 2025, the decedent’s share of the family home in some situations will not count when determining whether
2025 Estate Planning Opportunities
Springtime is a great time to review your current estate plan or consider creating one. This year brings a number of opportunities for creating an estate plan, pursuing gifting strategies, and considering philanthropic goals. Here is a highlight of a few estate planning opportunities for this year: Increased Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Exemptions
Estate Planning for Young Adult Children
The job of parenting can be consuming with the drive to protect children in all circumstances, including the unthinkable. However, the topic of estate planning for children still looms large on the mind of most parents. Estate planning clients of young-adult children often express concerns about ensuring their children are cared for in the event
Modernizing an Existing Irrevocable Trust
Many savvy estate plans include the use of an irrevocable trust that was established many years ago. However, the very nature of an irrevocable trust means that once the trust agreement is finalized, the terms of that trust cannot be amended or modified. Over the years, tax laws have changed and, depending on when the
Prenuptial vs. Postnuptial Agreements: What’s the Difference Between These Two Types of Agreements, and Which One is Right For Me?
It is becoming increasingly more common for modern couples, either before or during their marriage, to execute a written legal contract with the goal of protecting the separate interests of either partner in case of divorce, legal separation, or death. A prenuptial agreement or “prenup” is a legal contract that is signed before marriage. A
Importance of Beneficiary Designations in Estate Planning
Beneficiary designations are an essential component of every estate plan; however, these designations are often overlooked. As a bit of background, there is a distinction between probate assets and non-probate assets. Probate assets are distributed according to your will during a probate administration whereas non-probate assets are distributed outside of the probate process and are,
Avoid the Estate Planning Exemption Cliff: Plan to Take Advantage of the Current Exemption Before it Expires
In an effort to provide Americans with various forms of tax relief, in 2017 Congress enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”). This act provided tax reductions in many different categories, but one of the most significant was that it nearly doubled the Estate Tax and Lifetime Gifts Exemption (“Exemption”). However, these tax
Durable Power of Attorney – One of Your Most Important Estate Planning Documents
We all make important decisions and engage in regular financial transactions without giving a second thought about our capacity to do so. But what if you suddenly lost the ability? What would happen? While most of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, unexpected things can and do occur. For instance, you
Estate Planning for the Modern Global Family
Estate planning tends to be a topic that overwhelms most people. It can be further complicated for modern-day global families whose lives include international nuances. For example, when one spouse is not a U.S. citizen, certain legal considerations come into play that can impact your planning strategies. Further, more and more families have international beneficiaries
Estate Planning for Your Pets
When preparing your estate plan there are a number of things to consider including how to provide for your pets who are an important part of your life and ensuring that they are taken care of after your passing. There are a couple of options for estate planning for pets that range from including a